Lyrabeecher
Back story (from in-game profile) :Lyra Beecher grew up the daughter of simple farming folk. Her mother, Kateryn or "Katie", was gentle, kind and made Lyra want to be a good person. Her father, Nicholas, was quiet yet strong and fiercely protective of his little family. :One day when Lyra was about 7 years old, a stranger arrived in their little hamlet. The man came to their farm to speak with Lyra's father. Having been sent to fetch firewood, Lyra came round the corner of their barn with an armload to find her father in a heated argument with the man. Lyra couldn't tell what they were saying but she could see the man was jabbing her father's chest with his finger in a threatening manner. :At that moment, Lyra's mother called out for her to bring in the wood so Lyra entered the house. She was puzzled about what the man and her father would be talking about but, whatever the trouble was, her father would certainly take care of it. :Late that night, after the family had gone to bed, Lyra arose needing to relieve herself. She went outside and after taking care of business, headed back towards the house. But, suddenly, a strong hand clamped down over her mouth and someone grabbed her from behind. It was quite dark and she couldn't see well as it was but then a blanket was thrown over her and she couldn't see at all. :A deep voice whispered in her ear, "Keep quiet if you want to see morning." She was roughly lifted, carried for a while and then dropped onto something. When a moment later she started to move, she could tell she'd been placed into the back of a wagon and was being taken away. The echo of that deep voice was still in her ears and she was too terrified to cry out. :That horrible night was the beginning of a dreadful period in Lyra's live. The man who kidnapped her took her far from the place she knew as home, deep into the woods to a small little cottage that was so overgrown on the outside and so dirty on the inside that it could have been a cave. The man beat her terribly. When she asked who he was and why he had taken her, he simply said, "You will call me 'Sir' and your father should learn not to cross the wrong people." And the glowering look he gave her with his dark eyes told her not to try to ask again. :For a long time after that, Lyra kept looking for an opportunity to run away. But 'Sir' rarely left the house except for going out into the woods to hunt or chop wood. When he did that he always had a dangerous weapon in hand and Lyra sensed that to try to slip away then would be deadly should he catch her. When in the house, he was either drinking copious amounts of ale and grumbling angrily about things she didn't understand or turning his vile temper against her. :One dark and stormy night when Lyra was nearly 17 years old, 'Sir' had been out hunting and returned with a large rabbit in his hand. He and his catch were both dripping wet, creating a large puddle on the floor. 'Sir' threw the wet rabbit at Lyra, demanding that she clean it and the floor, as he grabbed a jug of ale and started to drink. Lyra set down the animal and turned to get something to mop up the floor. Suddenly, ‘Sir’ exploded and slapped her across the face, sending her reeling, “You stupid wench, fix my dinner first,” he bellowed. As she turned back to where she left the rabbit, ‘Sir’ pulled off his wet coat and dropped it in a heap on the floor. Lyra glanced down at it but started to clean the rabbit. ‘Sir’ finished off his first jug of ale and sloshed through the puddle as he went to grab another when he stopped and looked at what Lyra was doing. “What are you doing?” he screamed, “Clean up the floor!” Then he grabbed Lyra by the shoulders, spun her around and delivered another hard slap to her cheek. Lyra stumbled backward, scared and unsure of what to do next. This seemed to further enrage ‘Sir’ who lunged after her to issue another beating, but his foot caught on his wet coat on the floor and slid out from under him. His head slammed into the corner of the table nearby before he could catch his fall. Lyra shrank back, sure that he would take it out on her. But, ‘Sir’ was very still, breathing unevenly but not otherwise moving. :“Sir?” Lyra asked tentatively. She was very frightened and at a loss for what to do. A flash of lightning from the storm outside pulled her attention away from the inside of the little cave-like house. She glanced down at the prone form at her feet. ‘Sir’ had fallen in such a way that he was between her and the door. With only the barest glimmer of a plan in mind, Lyra hitched up her ragged skirt, stretched one leg far out and, trying very hard not to touch him, stepped over the man who had held her captive for so long. Without looking back nor giving much thought to where she was going, Lyra ran out through the door into the dark rain and kept running as fast as she could until she was far, far away. :By the time she found her way to the town of Kendal, Lyra had realized that she’d need to find shelter, food and gainful employment so that she could begin to make her way in the world. So, hoping to find safety there, Lyra started her new life in Kendal. Histories featuring Lyrabeecher (in relative order of biography) * The Town Church, page 15 * Beaker and Corinna’s Excellent Adventure in Kendal * Watching the sunset * The Wedding of Ladysunshine and Dickhatch * A Decision Reached * A dusty traveller * Testing the waters * A walk through town * Anonymoose's home, 77 St. Chad's Terrace, page 3-4 :It was in this period that Lyrabeecher met Lady Cruzincat and through conversation they determined that Lyra might be related to the Degas family. Lady Cruzincat invited Lyra to visit the Degas family estate where evidence was found that Lyra was indeed a cousin in the family. However, details of the happenings in the Degas family estate will not be copied to the Bards Library at this time. * Stafford Inn Pub of Downright Drink'n!, page 8 * The Beer Garden (no proof of age required), page 2-3 * Walk of nature and discovery * A weary traveller seeking peace * visit in Lichfield * Stafford Inn Pub of Downright Drink'n!, page 10-11 * The Beecher women visit Shrewsbury * Heero's humble home, #1 St. John's Hill, page 5 * A return * The city of Lancaster, page 2 * Morning in Preston * The Beecher women visit Liverpool Other Characters By the Same Author *The author of Lyrabeecher previously wrote the character Eolena. *NPCs written by this author include Katiebeecher, Young_boy, and Missy_servant_girl. Category:Player Characters